Speak Now
by conway123
Summary: Clary isn't the type of girl to rudely barge in on a white veil occasion, yet Jace isn't the kind of boy to marry the wrong girl. One-shot. CLACE.


**This was inspired by the song Speak Now by Taylor Swift. If there is anyone who has already done this, then I wasn't trying to copy at all! It would be entirely coincidental. I just got this idea, and before I knew it, I had written a one shot. I hope you enjoy and without further ado...**

Clary wasn't normally the type of girl to barge in on any occasion, specifically one with a white veil involved. Though this was the exception.

Isabelle Lightwood, her estranged friend who she hadn't seen in a year, had called. She begged Clary to return to New York.

"It's important," she insisted.

Clary hadn't been to New York in over a year, and it held memories that she wanted to forget. All of her friends had severed contact months after she'd moved to D.C for a once in a lifetime job opportunity. She thought it was the right decision at the time. It paid triple what her current job had been, and it included art, which she loved. The only thing was that Jace couldn't come with her.

Her and Jace had been together since high school, and had known each other throughout their life. They'd been best friends, and she had loved him so much it broke her when they ended things.

She regretted moving when she realized her glamorous job wasn't all it cracked up to be.

"I didn't think I was welcome in New York anymore, Isabelle," she snapped at her former friend over the phone. None of her friends had bothered to contact her.

"Radio silence works two ways, honey," Isabelle replied bitterly. There was a long pause before Isabelle's sigh was heard loud and clear.

"It's Jace."

Clary stiffened. "What about him?"

"He"s marrying this wench of a girl. She made sure he had no contact with you and she spit lies into all of our heads, manipulating us into thinking you didn't want to talk to any of us for some reason."

Marrying. Clary wasn't sure if she heard right. She wanted to curl up into a ball until next new years, though she kept her voice relatively calm as she responded.

"That sucks for him, Izzy. But what am I supposed to do about it?" Clary's voice was calm, though Izzy heard the tiredness in her friend's voice.

"He still loves you," Isabelle spat out, ashamed to be pleading over the phone. "I'll text you the address of the church. His wedding is this Saturday. I suggest you get on a plane to New York before it's too late. I know you still love him too." Satisfied with herself, she hung up.

And that was Izzy, as blunt as ever. Always straight to the point.

She shouldn't be here.

Clary sighed as she found her way into a back room of a church, and was smashed into bone crushing hugs from all of her friends. Simon pet her hair as if she were a cat, Isabelle fiercely hugged her waist as Magnus fretted over her hair and lack of glitter. Alec's lips curled upward into the slightest of smiles and Maia was hopping up and down, something hard to accomplish in huge heels. She had truly missed them. It was as if she'd never left.

"Aline, you imbecile!" A whiny screech was loud enough to transfer through the walls from the next room.

A girl who Clary knew instantly as the bride, marched into the room with smoke steaming from her ears with snotty family members all dressed in pastel hot on her trail, as well as a cowering Asian girl following. Isabelle stood in front of Clary, which surprised her at first, until she realized Isabelle was attempting to block her from view.

The girl was quite gorgeous, hair done up and makeup professionally applied. She wore an ivory lace wedding gown that poofed from her waist like a cupcake. Clary couldn't help but think she looked like a pastry. Her exterior was enchanting, though her interior was rotten to the core.

She shoved the long veil in front of Isabelle's face, who took it carefully in her hands. "Aline ripped my expensive veil with her stupid barrette while she was trying it on!" Kaelie fumed viciously, sending Aline murderous looks.

"There's no tear, Kaelie. You're over exaggerating."

Kaelie huffed and snatched the veil from Izzy's hands, before marching out of the room yelling profanities toward Aline.

"Wow," Clary exhaled once Kaelie had made her dramatic exit. "She's..." Clary paused. She didn't want to express her thoughts, not wanting to offend her friends.

"Terrible!" They all screamed in unison, and Clary couldn't help but agree.

"Isabelle, why did you stand in front of me?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"Kaelie... she didn't want you here. Jace wanted to invite you, believe me when I say it."

It seems that she was uninvited by the lovely bride to be.

"Please do something about her, Biscuit," Magnus tried to reason with her. "He still loves you. You love him too, right?"

She didn't entirely believe him, though she nodded. "Of course I do, Mags" she said, which seemed to satisfy him. She loved him, though did he still love her? She hoped so.

She followed her friends as they clambered into the alter.

"Sit at the back, and keep you head down until it's time," Isabelle gave her a quick reassuring smile before following the rest towards the front row.

And that she did. Soon enough, the organs started to play the wedding melody, though it sounded more like a death march. Dread filled in her gut. Jace was marrying someone else, not her. She watched as Kaelie floated down the aisle like a pageant queen, elegant and graceful. She'd be damned before this wedding went through.

It should be her. It should be Clary. That's what Jace wanted, right? It's what her friends were adamantly set on...

Clary was snapped from her reverie when the preacher's low gravely voice boomed through the church, echoing the very words that she'd arrived for, and the words that terrified her the most.

"Speak now, or forever hold your peace."

Silence. There's her last chance. The preacher's eyes glanced briefly through the room. Clary breathed deeply as she rose from her seat at the very back. The preacher gasped, causing everyone to whip around in record time.

All eyes were on her.

Her hands shook as horrified faces glared towards her, and she almost wanted to run out of the church and forget this ever happened. She closed her eyes in a useless attempt to calm her shaky hands. This was something she had to do, even if there was a chance of rejection. She couldn't let him do this. When she opened her eyes, she met Jace's in a death stare. Her breath hitched as he looked at her, pain and shock flooding his golden orbs. She couldn't rip her eyes away. She regretted ever leaving. How could she have been so stupid to walk away from the love of her life? He looked broken, and fragile in a way that was so uncharacteristic for Jace. Had she done this to him?

"I'm not the kind of girl to rudely barge in on a white veil occasion," she started, her eyes never leaving Jace; his combed back golden hair, tawny eyes that mirrored the crowd's shock, black tux tailored to perfection. He was an angel, and he was hers. "But Jace, you're not the kind of boy who should be marrying the wrong girl."

The crowd let out collective gasps, as if this was a damn soap opera. Maybe it was.

The bride screeched as she stopped her high heeled feet on the red carpet. Clary ignored it. She had to say what she'd come for, otherwise she never would. She'd never be able to because he'd belong to someone else, and it wouldn't be her place. If she didn't do it now, her heart would crack into a thousand tiny pieces with no one to clear up. She would simply die. She couldn't fathom her pathetic life without him. Tears escaped down her cheeks despite trying to contain them.

"So don't say yes, run away now," she said, basically pleading, basically begging. She bit her lip until a small drop of blood was drawn, and the metallic taste filled her tongue. "I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door."

Her body was numb, her mind warbled. She couldn't stop the heavy breathing, the anxious heartbeats, the wavering of her voice.

"Don't wait or say a single vow. You need to hear me out and they said speak now," she looked expectantly at Jace, who was still stood in place like a statue. For the first time, she ducked her head to stare at her feet in embarrassment. Of course Isabelle was wrong. He didn't love her anymore. Only she would have held on for this long. It had been a year since they'd last seen each other, and he'd moved on.

This was not her place.

She looked over at Izzy and shook her head, despite the look that Izzy portrayed on her face. He loves you, just wait, it said. He was just trying to replace you with Kaelie, it said. They were lies.

She spun on her heel and rushed from the alter, her dress billowing behind her like a beautiful satin cape in slow motion. She found her way to the back door where she threw herself onto the steps and started heaving. She wheezed from the loss of air, as her mind spun. She still loved him, why couldn't she get over him like he'd gotten over her? Why did it feel like her heart was shattered and stomped on until it was transformed to dust? Why did she feel this way? Jace had done this to her. Isabelle had done this to her. No. She had done this to herself.

It felt as though she was on the steps for an eternity, sobbing uncontrollably from the bottom step, and her head buried into her arms several steps upwards. The ongoing pedestrians stared at her in astonishment. What reason would a beautiful girl like her have to be sad about?

She heard footsteps, and knew it must be Isabelle trying to convince her to try something else. Clary didn't think her heart could handle that much ache in a lifetime, much less a day. Her mascara was smudged in dark lines down her face. She felt a hand on her bare shoulder and her body went stiff.

It wasn't Isabelle.

Teary eyed, she rose from the steps and swiveled around to face him. Jace's face was beautifully basked in the afternoon sunlight, and his hair glowed like a golden halo. It was then she realized the tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," she choked out, feeling guilty as ever for crashing a wedding, and his of all things. "I should have respected your choice of marrying Kaelie, this wasn't my place at all." Her voice was so fragile and small, barely a whisper and she wondered if Jace had even heard it.

She was surprised when he gently took her face between his palms, and leaned down to kiss her.

She immediately melted into him, his lips tender yet passionate. She closed her eyes, trying to remember every moment of the kiss. The way his hands sent shivers up her skin, and how his lips were perfectly molded to fit hers. He held her so close to him, as if he thought she would disappear if he let go. When they broke away, he leaned his forehead against hers, and wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. She was crushed against him now, and she knew she never wanted him to let go.

"I love you," he breathed out, and a new set of tears streamed down her face, wetting his cheeks as well as hers. She didn't think she'd ever hear that again.

"I love you too," she cried, placing a kiss onto his nose.

"I didn't say my vows," he stated, lifting his forehead from hers and stroking her red curls with his hands. It had been something that he'd always done, and something Clary had missed so much. "I wished it was you, I love you." He kept repeating the three words into her ear as they embraced and she kept assuring him that she'd never leave again.

"I'm sorry," she said, her head nestled into his broad shoulders. "I won't leave you again."

He wiped the tears from her eyes and took her hand in his. Fingers intertwined, they left the church. They didn't think once about the screaming Whitewillow family, or the raging bride. They didn't think once about their friends who were waiting inside for the good news, or the confused preacher wondering whether or not there was still a wedding ceremony to be held.

All they focused on was that their hearts no longer ached. They no longer had to live without each other, and they never would have to again. All they focused on was how much they loved each other. All they focused on was one another as they hailed a cab, and drove away.

 **Hopefully this wasn't too horrible! Tell me what you thought it the comments. Thanks for reading, and a new chapter of I Loathe You will be out sometime this weekend.**


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